Meat One continues to expand retail outlet base

KARACHI: Despite rampant food inflation and economic slowdown, business is good for Meat One.

The chain of high-end retail butcheries is expanding its operations in Karachi, opening up an outlet in North Nazimabad and plans to operate a dozen outlets in the city by the end of the year.

“The response to the first three shops was phenomenal. We have been fortunate enough to develop strong customer loyalty in a short period of time, which has encouraged us to expand so quickly,” said Osman Saeed, the company’s assistant  brand manager. The company began operations in July 2010

“By the first week of March, there will be an outlet in Bahadurabad. After that, we will set up outlets in Gulshan, Malir, KDA, Mohammad Ali Society and Garden.”

According to Meat One Operations Manager Adnan Budhani, Karachi has the largest market for meat, with more than 320 tons of beef being sold daily in the city. He added that the annual meat consumption of the city tops 2.5 million tons.

ASI Partners, an agricultural consulting firm, estimates the value of Karachi’s meat market at $1 billion a year.

Meat One is a subsidiary of the Al Shaheer Corporation, which initially dealt only in meat exports to the Persian Gulf region. But booming demand in the domestic market and the lack of competition attracted their attention closer to home.

“We started researching the local market back in 2009 and soon confirmed that there is strong demand for health-conscious solutions for meat purchases,” said Budhani. The company has launched three product lines – packaged meat, live butcheries and marinated merchandise.

Osman Saeed pointed out that the company targets middle-income groups rather than being a niche brand. He explained that the company had adopted a competitive pricing strategy, which along with high-quality standards gave it an edge over other meat vendors.

When asked about competition from other brands in the marinated meat product market, he was keen to mention, “our products are different from others because we do not deal in frozen meat.”

Explaining, he said that the company has established a cold chain that leads to quick delivery of fresh meat to outlets without having to freeze the products. He added that the company was superior to other meat vendors because of the importance it gives to the maintenance of quality standards.

Despite the aggressive growth, he believes the industry needs half a dozen more brands to implement quality control and educate consumers about potential health risks associated with purchases from sub-standard butcher shops. The company has already initiated various below-the-line marketing activities to raise public interest in the brand and cause a paradigm shift in the meat buying approach,” he added.

“We are aiming to convince people to make health-conscious decisions when it comes to food purchases, particularly meat. Although it is a long road, we feel that the quick growth of our brand is a testament that the change has started,” added Adnan Budhani.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2011.